Dates

• Existence: 1800-2009

Biography

Richard Thomas Reese was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales on August 15, 1831. When he was about ten years old, he moved to the United States with his sister. In 1854, Reese married Henrietta Nordyke. They had several children, including: Henry, Frederick, Richard, Marietta (Molly), and Howard. Reese died in 1910, two years after Henrietta Reese.   Howard Reese was born on August 29, 1881. A farmer by trade, Reese also prospered as a merchant in Turin, Iowa. He donated a substantial amount of money to the local Methodist church and later became its director. In 1920, Howard Reese helped establish the Turin Telephone Company. The first telephone in Turin was located in the Reese store. Reese married Nellie Josephine Leff, who was also from Turin, in 1909 in Sioux City, Iowa. They lived in the same farm home in Turin throughout their lives. Their son, Donald Reese was born May 14, 1916. In 1933, he graduated from Onawa High School. His participation in his school's winning team at the Iowa State High School Debate Tournament that year earned him a four-year scholarship to The University of Iowa (then State University of Iowa). He graduated with a degree in English Literature in 1938. Donald Reese served in the Navy during World War II as a pharmacist's mate first class. He was honorably discharged on December 6, 1945 and returned permanently to the family farm. Nellie Jo Reese died in 1972 in Onawa, Iowa, three days after her 88th birthday. Howard Reese passed away on April 10, 1979 in Turin, Iowa.   Donald Reese married Luella Henrietta Sprague Zahrt on the 26 October, 1946 in Iowa City, Iowa. He worked as a rural mail carrier in the areas surrounding Turin and Onawa, Iowa, for 24 years. Donald and Luella had four children; David, Christy, Jo and Karen Reese. Donald Reese passed away at age 81, on March 12, 1998 in Turin, Iowa.

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